On May 15, 1995, a United Airlines Boeing 777-222A, N777UA, flew the first commercial service for the type, with a flight between London Heathrow and Washington Dulles. One of Boeing's best sellers and finest designs, still going strong.

Actually, United took delivery of N777UA in PDX on May 15 1995...I was there with my Dad, who worked for United at that time. Got to walk around it on the ramp, parked at Gate E5. It was truly amazing...how big the engine nacelles are, and then the six-tire main landing gear.

On May 30th, it received final ETOPS certification, and then entered service as #921 from LHR to IAD on June 7th.

Last edited by DeltaPSCFlyer on Sat May 16, 2020 9:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Actually, United took delivery of N777UA in PDX on May 15 1995...I was there with my Dad, who worked for United at that time. Got to walk around it on the ramp, parked at Gate E5. It was truly amazing...how big the engine nacelles are, and then the six-tire main landing gear.

On May 30th, it received final ETOPS certification, and then entered service as #921 from LHR to IAD on June 7th.

I stand corrected then, Would have sworn it was the 15th, but what you say makes sense. Incidentally, N777UA ship 2477, is stored due to the pandemic. Hopefully her and the others A models can make it back to service.

Horrible plane. Has made Boeing lot of money and tortured passengers around the world. Noisy and cramped.

But is it really though?

The bulk of my longhaul flying has been on the 777 and I honestly don't feel it to be cramped at all even in the 10-abreast seating. Noise wise, sure it may be louder than an Airbus but it's hardly uncomfortable.

Horrible plane. Has made Boeing lot of money and tortured passengers around the world. Noisy and cramped.

Although noisy, the 'cramped' element was the result of most carriers going to 10 abreast. I remember Air Canada's 777-300ERs when they were new and 9 abreast, super comfortable ride, tons of personal space in Y, great interior overall. When they went high-density the change was dramatic, everything felt cramped, seats narrower and the entire plane felt over-crowded and somewhat claustrophobic. I don't feel Boeing intended 10 abreast when designing the triple.

Horrible plane. Has made Boeing lot of money and tortured passengers around the world. Noisy and cramped.

Although noisy, the 'cramped' element was the result of most carriers going to 10 abreast. I remember Air Canada's 777-300ERs when they were new and 9 abreast, super comfortable ride, tons of personal space in Y, great interior overall. When they went high-density the change was dramatic, everything felt cramped, seats narrower and the entire plane felt over-crowded and somewhat claustrophobic. I don't feel Boeing intended 10 abreast when designing the triple.

I think that's exactly the point. the 777 is not a bad plane to fly even in Y but over the years people started to dislike it because airlines reduced the leg room to the bare minimum and went from 9 to 10 abreast. Last summer flew CX HKG-CDG on 9 abreast config, came back the week later on a 10 config. Then you feel the difference....

The 777-300ER became the new 744, some of my best flights have been on this airplane. JAL and Cathay Pacific have excellent First Class cabins on them. The herringbone Business Class cabins many airlines have on their 777 are luxurious. This airplane is the pinnacle of today's airplanes, the A380 is now a dinosaur. long may the 777-9 fly.

Does anyone know why the inaugural UA flight was LHR-IAD & not IAD-LHR. It seems weird that it was from an out station to hub.

I was on the inaugural and I'm guessing the westbound trip was first so the "Welcome Home" celebration could be in the US. We had a pretty big party at LHR for the departure but nothing like the welcome at Dulles. We were in the immigration corridor but could see the huge party going on in the gate area upon arrival.

It really was a revolutionary aircraft in its day. It pushed the limits of a twin-engine and set a new standard. Very cool aircraft and one of my all time favorites.

Interesting that like the 757, it actually ended up being brilliant on missions for which it wasn’t even originally intended. Who would think that the TATL 747, DC10, and L10 replacement would eventually be flying LAX-SYD, ORD-HKG, EWR-BOM, etc.

Horrible plane. Has made Boeing lot of money and tortured passengers around the world. Noisy and cramped.

Always one complainer:) The "cramped" issue if because of the operator, not Boeing.

How true is that .... any aircraft type can be cramped ..... nothing to do with the manufacturer !!!! The airline operating the aircraft determines the * crampiness* .... gets your facts straight before making such a ridiculous comment.

It might not have the universal love or appeal of the 747, but I really like the 777. I've found it to be fairly pleasant to fly on (though my last trip on a 10ab 777 was when I was not fully grown!) and I love the way it sounds, the Trents and the GE90s on the 77W and 77L sound very authoritative. It has been *the* standard for long haul flying, and an enormous success for Boeing and the airlines that operate it. I would say the 747 is Boeing's biggest success story, but in its own understated way the 777 is a real winner. I don't have huge optimism for the 777X, but it will be around for a while, and I can't wait to see them in the skies.

The 777 truly was a game changer. It killed off the trijets (MD11, DC10, L1011), killed off the quads (747 and rendered the a380 largely stillborn) and is still the backbone of many airlines longhaul fleet.

My first 777 flight was in 2006, DFW-NRT on AA. AA's 777s were 2-5-2 in economy back then. I remember thinking, nice modern plane with PTVs in every seat. And those Rolls Royce Trent 800 engines were very quiet - sometimes I wouldn't know the engines were running until they revved for takeoff.

I think the 747 and 777 have had the most dramatic impact on aviation. Yeah, the 787 has been a game changer along with the A350. The 757 was a feat in its own right. The Concorde had a major impact, but none the likes of the 747 and 777. What it can carry over a 7,000 mile leg vs other aircraft is still unbeatable. The A350 can fly 7,000 miles with 325 passengers on a hell of a lot less go juice, but could never lift what 777 can...... too bad someone said "let's 10 abreast it like the 747, DC10 and MD11"........

Horrible plane. Has made Boeing lot of money and tortured passengers around the world. Noisy and cramped.

I got my only case of food poisoning on a CO 777, totally the 777`s fault......

On a flight from LAS To LAX I remember reading an article in the US today about the 777, this would have been in 97 or 98, the article stated that the 777 was a flop and Boeing would never turn a profit on the model as they would have to sell over 500 and the author didn't see that happening.

My first 777 flight was in 2006, DFW-NRT on AA. AA's 777s were 2-5-2 in economy back then. I remember thinking, nice modern plane with PTVs in every seat. And those Rolls Royce Trent 800 engines were very quiet - sometimes I wouldn't know the engines were running until they revved for takeoff.

My first was DFW-NRT in 2004! I was a 20yr old AA employee and got first class. I’ll never forget them bringing around champagne at 1030am while we’re waiting for the door to close.

Lrockeagle14 years ago

I got $20 says AA takes their 787's with GE powerplants. Just a hunch. Any takers?

On May 15, 1995, a United Airlines Boeing 777-222A, N777UA, flew the first commercial service for the type, with a flight between London Heathrow and Washington Dulles. One of Boeing's best sellers and finest designs, still going strong.

Flew that bird at least 50 times since 1997, always stood out because of the reg, even though it looks more like a ghetto bird now compared to the -300ERs with Polaris installed.

jetwet1 wrote:

I got my only case of food poisoning on a CO 777, totally the 777`s fault......

On a flight from LAS To LAX I remember reading an article in the US today about the 777, this would have been in 97 or 98, the article stated that the 777 was a flop and Boeing would never turn a profit on the model as they would have to sell over 500 and the author didn't see that happening.

Here we are in 2020 with 2000 + ordered.

Well, you *did* have a choice of steak or fish, if you took the fish oh well. As for me, I had the lasagna.

I think back then with so many 747s, MD-11s, and A340s it wasn't really accepted just yet that a two-engine plane could fly lots of missions beyond TATL. Then again they still had plenty of smoking flights back then as well. ETOPS 180 sounded revolutionary at the time, and look how much we've moved beyond that now.

Iconic triple landing gear, engines the size of a 737 fuselage (the GE90s at least), longest range airliner for a while (77L), great freighter. It’s done a lot for us. Proudfully it’s my birth-plane (I’m from 1994).

Hope to fly on it more in the future (flew on two of them), although it’s starting to get to that retirement phase across airlines soon enough.

Last edited by CarlosSi on Sun May 17, 2020 3:19 am, edited 1 time in total.

There’s a bunch of discrepancies with the delivery date. According to United, they received the first 777 on May 17, not May 15. However, some fleet tracking sites say the aircraft was delivered on May 15.

On May 15, 1995, a United Airlines Boeing 777-222A, N777UA, flew the first commercial service for the type, with a flight between London Heathrow and Washington Dulles. One of Boeing's best sellers and finest designs, still going strong.

Flew that bird at least 50 times since 1997, always stood out because of the reg, even though it looks more like a ghetto bird now compared to the -300ERs with Polaris installed.

N777UA has the "new" 777A US domestic configuration (C28Y336), with business class having the pre-merger United business class seats, facing front and aft and new coach seats. Of course, it is not Polaris but not too bad for US hub to hub and Hawaii. It is now stored due to the crisis, lets see if and when United puts them back into service.

The first time I was sitting on airplane was a VN's 772ER. The interior was very comfortable, the sound was awesome.I won't forget about that first flight, even though it was just a 2 hrs flight between HAN and SGN.

The 777 made me an avgeek

I felt so sad when VN retired those airframes too soon to be replaced by shiny A359.I also felt so angry when VN didn't know how to well-preserve those great airframes those days, when its 77Es were all rusted and faded (look at the picture, noted that the VN-A144 airframes [ln 453] was just more than 10 years old at the moment the picture was captured), alongside with bunches of technical issues.

Those 777 airframes deserved better.

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Horrible plane. Has made Boeing lot of money and tortured passengers around the world. Noisy and cramped.

Although noisy, the 'cramped' element was the result of most carriers going to 10 abreast. I remember Air Canada's 777-300ERs when they were new and 9 abreast, super comfortable ride, tons of personal space in Y, great interior overall. When they went high-density the change was dramatic, everything felt cramped, seats narrower and the entire plane felt over-crowded and somewhat claustrophobic. I don't feel Boeing intended 10 abreast when designing the triple.

I think that's exactly the point. the 777 is not a bad plane to fly even in Y but over the years people started to dislike it because airlines reduced the leg room to the bare minimum and went from 9 to 10 abreast. Last summer flew CX HKG-CDG on 9 abreast config, came back the week later on a 10 config. Then you feel the difference....

Funny how it works...

Passengers: It’s the worst plane

Manufacturer: No it’s not. It’s not the manufacturer but the carrier who configures the aircraft

Airline: Oh no, it’s not us. It’s not the carrier. It’s the customer. The customer isn’t willing to pay more for comfortable seating

Wall Street: Airline X, what is your growth strategy?

Airline: We’re going to put slimline seats in Y, reduce pitch, increase abreast seating. More seats per plane equates to more passengers per flight. More passengers per flight equates to increased ticket revenue, increased baggage fee revenue and increased change fee revenue. We will market the mods to our customers as enhancements. If the noise level from the changes gets too high, we’ll remind customers that they asked for these enhancements, we heard them, and be blunt in explaining that they weren’t willing to pay more

There’s a bunch of discrepancies with the delivery date. According to United, they received the first 777 on May 17, not May 15. However, some fleet tracking sites say the aircraft was delivered on May 15.

Although noisy, the 'cramped' element was the result of most carriers going to 10 abreast. I remember Air Canada's 777-300ERs when they were new and 9 abreast, super comfortable ride, tons of personal space in Y, great interior overall. When they went high-density the change was dramatic, everything felt cramped, seats narrower and the entire plane felt over-crowded and somewhat claustrophobic. I don't feel Boeing intended 10 abreast when designing the triple.

I think that's exactly the point. the 777 is not a bad plane to fly even in Y but over the years people started to dislike it because airlines reduced the leg room to the bare minimum and went from 9 to 10 abreast. Last summer flew CX HKG-CDG on 9 abreast config, came back the week later on a 10 config. Then you feel the difference....

Funny how it works...

Passengers: It’s the worst plane

Manufacturer: No it’s not. It’s not the manufacturer but the carrier who configures the aircraft

Airline: Oh no, it’s not us. It’s not the carrier. It’s the customer. The customer isn’t willing to pay more for comfortable seating

Wall Street: Airline X, what is your growth strategy?

Airline: We’re going to put slimline seats in Y, reduce pitch, increase abreast seating. More seats per plane equates to more passengers per flight. More passengers per flight equates to increased ticket revenue, increased baggage fee revenue and increased change fee revenue. We will market the mods to our customers as enhancements. If the noise level from the changes gets too high, we’ll remind customers that they asked for these enhancements, we heard them, and be blunt in explaining that they weren’t willing to pay more

N777UA has the "new" 777A US domestic configuration (C28Y336), with business class having the pre-merger United business class seats, facing front and aft and new coach seats. Of course, it is not Polaris but not too bad for US hub to hub and Hawaii. It is now stored due to the crisis, lets see if and when United puts them back into service.

Correct, Hawai'i config / domestic high density with 8 across in F. Basically what used to be the UA standard for F on a 777 until just a couple years ago

So the 777A now occupies the same spot held by the 763 ghetto bird leftovers about ten years back. The worst hard product for that type, much like N666UA was ten years ago (before it received the sCO lie-flat seats) when compared to the nicer three-class 763s that already had them at the time. To be clear, I'm really glad they all have lie-flat seats now, remembering that it was once a first-class feature and business class didn't have them. I hope to see as many UA birds as possible back in the friendly skies soon.

questions wrote:

Funny how it works...

Passengers: It’s the worst plane

Manufacturer: No it’s not. It’s not the manufacturer but the carrier who configures the aircraft

Airline: Oh no, it’s not us. It’s not the carrier. It’s the customer. The customer isn’t willing to pay more for comfortable seating

Wall Street: Airline X, what is your growth strategy?

Airline: We’re going to put slimline seats in Y, reduce pitch, increase abreast seating. More seats per plane equates to more passengers per flight. More passengers per flight equates to increased ticket revenue, increased baggage fee revenue and increased change fee revenue. We will market the mods to our customers as enhancements. If the noise level from the changes gets too high, we’ll remind customers that they asked for these enhancements, we heard them, and be blunt in explaining that they weren’t willing to pay more

Exactly right. I'm glad that UA chose to go with high J 763s for a change and with a true premium economy in addition to economy plus. After years of cutbacks on silly items (axing Grand Marnier and Courvoisier, or getting rid of the Mimosa cart, introducing Fresh Brew coffee, etc) they finally made a bet on improving something.

My first widebody flight was on a Delta 777, the Soaring Spirit livery to be exact. This was during the Comair strike. I was originaly scheduled to fly MCO-BHM on a Comari CR1.Instead, Delta re-routed me MCO-ATL on the 777, then ATL-BHM on a 727.

Iconic triple landing gear, engines the size of a 737 fuselage (the GE90s at least), longest range airliner for a while (77L), great freighter. It’s done a lot for us. Proudfully it’s my birth-plane (I’m from 1994).

Hope to fly on it more in the future (flew on two of them), although it’s starting to get to that retirement phase across airlines soon enough.

Horrible plane. Has made Boeing lot of money and tortured passengers around the world. Noisy and cramped.

you have NO idea what you're talking about? What airplane is better?

He read that no one in their right mind would fly a 10 x 777 in Y. Doesn’t take into account the premium cabins. Probably also thinks everyone with basic status should get upgrades to business class on international flights. Let alone all the 9X in Y 777 that are wider than A350s.

The 777-300ER became the new 744, some of my best flights have been on this airplane. JAL and Cathay Pacific have excellent First Class cabins on them. The herringbone Business Class cabins many airlines have on their 777 are luxurious. This airplane is the pinnacle of today's airplanes, the A380 is now a dinosaur. long may the 777-9 fly.

While the 777 is an excellent plane in many regards and congratulation to Boeing and United for the anniversary, it's his not the nicest plane to be a passenger on, the noise comes first on the list even in the front. Whereas as a passenger, the A380 is far far better.